July

Fred’s medical career started in his native Iran, but after a year of medical school in Tehran, he decided to continue his training in Berlin, against his father’s wishes, but—as he said—“19-year-olds don’t listen to their fathers.” This was in 1941—wartime—but he was determined. His mother being German, meant he spoke the language already.

Dr Bob Love died in Victoria in December, 2004, after a long illness.

He was born in Quebec City in 1924, and after serving as a physical training instructor (he said they told him he wasn’t tough enough on the men) and X-ray technician during the Second World War, he attended medical school at McGill University. He started an internal medicine residency program at McGill, and married Nancy Law in 1950. They moved to Trail in 1952 so he could work in general practice, and he then completed his internal medicine in 1954–55 in Vancouver.

This is my first column for the BCMJ as your new president, and I’m very pleased to have this opportunity to discuss issues I feel will be important for physicians and our patients in the immediate future.

Elemental mercury is a potentially hazardous material that the WCB designates as having “reproductive critical effects.”[1,2]

Each year, two or three mercury spills are reported to the WCB. In one instance, a painter inadvertently spilled the contents of a manometer onto the carpet in a physician’s office. Ultimately the carpet was replaced and mercury contamination and elevated levels of mercury vapor were tracked throughout the building. The physician’s office was closed for several days.